System and method providing peer review and distribution of digital content

ABSTRACT

A digital content review and distribution system and method are provided. In general, a number of authors of digital content register with a content review and distribution agent, which may be hosted by a central server. The authors agree to review digital content submitted by other authors in exchange for review and distribution of their own content. In operation, an author submits metadata associated with digital content to be reviewed and optionally the digital content to the content review and distribution agent. In response to the submission, the content review and distribution agent effects a review of the digital content by one or more groups of reviewers, where the groups of reviewers are selected from the other authors registered with the content review and distribution agent based on the metadata for the digital content and reviewer credentials of the other authors.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/536,153, filed on Sep. 28, 2006, the disclosure of which ishereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to peer review and distribution of digitalcontent.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Today, most content sharing systems use author content tagging, end-userreview, or dedicated reviewers or editors to rank or assign a qualitylevel to shared content. As a result, especially where authors andend-users perform the review, shared content is seldomly reviewed byqualified persons. Further, systems using dedicated reviewers or editorsrequire a significant amount of overhead for the review process. Assuch, there is a need for a digital content review system that providesreview of digital content by qualified persons while reducing oreliminating the overhead associated with dedicated reviewers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a digital content review and distributionsystem. In general, a number of authors of digital content register witha content review and distribution agent, which may be hosted by acentral server. The authors agree to review digital content submitted byother authors in exchange for review and distribution of their owncontent. In operation, an author submits metadata associated withdigital content to be reviewed and optionally the digital content to thecontent review and distribution agent. The metadata may include a targetquality level for the digital content, information describing thedigital content, or both the target quality level for the digitalcontent and information describing the digital content. In response tothe submission, the content review and distribution agent effects areview of the digital content by one or more groups of reviewers, wherethe groups of reviewers are selected from the other authors registeredwith the content review and distribution agent based on the metadata forthe digital content and reviewer credentials of the other authors.

In one embodiment, the review process is an iterative process based onquality level. First, the content review and distribution agent selectsa group of reviewers for a first quality level, where the first qualitylevel is less than the target quality and may be, for example, a minimumquality level. Once the content is reviewed, the content review anddistribution agent determines whether to continue the review to the nextquality level. The content review and distribution agent mayautomatically determine whether to proceed to the next quality levelbased on the feedback from the reviewers. If the content meets therequirements of the first quality level, then the review proceeds to thenext quality level. The process continues until the digital content isreviewed to the target quality level or fails to satisfy therequirements for a quality level. Alternatively, in order to determinewhether to continue to the next quality level, the content distributionagent may provide the feedback to the author, where the author decideswhether to submit the content for review at the next quality level basedon the feedback. The process continues until the digital content isreviewed to the target quality level or the author chooses todiscontinue the review process based on the feedback. Once the reviewprocess is complete, the author may choose to distribute the content viaone or more commercial or peer-to-peer distribution entities.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate the scope of the presentinvention and realize additional aspects thereof after reading thefollowing detailed description of the preferred embodiments inassociation with the accompanying drawing figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

The accompanying drawing figures incorporated in and forming a part ofthis specification illustrate several aspects of the invention, andtogether with the description serve to explain the principles of theinvention.

FIG. 1 illustrates a Personal Video Broadcast System (PVBS) according toone embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates the operation of the PVBS according to one embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates the operation of the PVBS according to anotherembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the local server of FIGS. 1-3 according toone embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates the PVBS according to another embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the PVBS master server of FIGS. 1-5according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the display device of FIG. 5 according toone embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 illustrates a content review and distribution system according toone embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 illustrates the operation of the content review and distributionsystem of FIG. 8 according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a more detailed illustration of a review process implementedby the content review and distribution system of FIG. 8 according to oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of the content review and distribution serverof FIG. 8 according to one embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of the user device of FIG. 8 according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The embodiments set forth below represent the necessary information toenable those skilled in the art to practice the invention and illustratethe best mode of practicing the invention. Upon reading the followingdescription in light of the accompanying drawing figures, those skilledin the art will understand the concepts of the invention and willrecognize applications of these concepts not particularly addressedherein. It should be understood that these concepts and applicationsfall within the scope of the disclosure and the accompanying claims.

FIG. 1 illustrates a Personal Video Broadcast System (PVBS) 10 accordingto one embodiment of the present invention. Note that while thediscussion herein focuses on video content, the personal broadcastchannels are not limited thereto. In general, the PVBS 10 includes aPersonal Video Broadcast System (PVBS) master server 12 and a number ofconsumer premises (CPs) 14-18 communicatively coupled by a network 20.Preferably, the network 20 is a Wide Area Network (WAN). However, thepresent invention is not limited thereto. As an example, the network 20may be a distributed public access network such as the Internet. Inaddition, the customer premises 14-18 preferably have high speedconnections to the network 20 such as, for example, Fiber-To-The-Home(FTTH) connections to the network 20 via one or more FTTH distributionnetworks.

The PVBS master server 12 includes a content distribution agent 22,which may be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination ofsoftware and hardware. The PVBS master server 12 may also maintain or beassociated with a content database 24 and an advertisements database 26.The content database 24 may include commercial video content such asmovies and television programs provided by commercial television contentproviders. In addition or alternatively, the content database 24 mayinclude content authored and distributed by peer users. An exemplarysystem for providing content authored and distributed by peer users isdiscussed below with respect to FIGS. 8-12. The advertisements database26 operates to store advertisements and optionally distribution criteriaor distribution lists for the advertisements. As discussed below, thecontent distribution agent 22 operates to distribute video content andoptionally advertisements from the databases 24 and 26 to the CPs 14-18.

It should be noted that while the content distribution agent 22 isillustrated as being hosted by the PVBS master server 12, the presentinvention is not limited thereto. For example, both the contentdistribution agent 22 and the content corresponding to the contentdatabase 24 may be hosted by one or more peers in a peer-to-peer (P2P)network. Thus, the content distribution agent 22 may operate to effectdistribution of content from peers in the P2P network to the CPs 14-18in a manner similar to that described below for the PVBS master server12.

The CP 14 includes a local server 28 communicatively coupled to a numberof display devices 30-1 through 30-N. Note that the following discussionis equally applicable to the other CPs 16 and 18. The local server 28may also be referred to herein as an in-home server. The local server 28includes a local broadcast agent 32, a personal channel profilesdatabase 34, a content database 36, and an advertisements database 38.The local broadcast agent 32 may be implemented in software, hardware,or a combination of software and hardware. The personal channel profilesdatabase 34, the content database 36, and the advertisements database 38may be implemented in one or more digital storage devices such as one ormore hard disk drives, one or more optical storage devices, memory, orthe like. Further, the content database 36, for example, may bedistributed among multiple devices within the CP 14.

The personal channel profiles database 34 operates to store a channelprofile for each of a number of personal broadcast channels defined byusers 40-1 through 40-N. Each of the channel profiles includesinformation identifying types of content to be broadcast on theassociated personal broadcast channel and a format for the personalbroadcast channel. Note that unlike Video-on-Demand (VoD) systems, thepersonal broadcast channels define types of content to be broadcastrather than selecting a particular video for viewing on demand. Thetypes of content to be broadcast via the personal broadcast channel maybe defined using various metadata. The metadata may include, forexample, media type such as movie or television program; genre such assports, news, history, drama, comedy, mystery, action, or sciencefiction; time period such as 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, or2000s; television program series title such as Star Trek, Seinfeld, orSurvivor, actors or actresses in the movie or television program;director of the movie or television program; or the like or anycombination thereof. The exemplary metadata mentioned above for definingtypes of content is not intended to limit the scope of the presentinvention. Other types of metadata for defining types of content will beapparent to one of ordinary skill in the art upon reading thisspecification.

In addition, each of the channel profiles may include informationidentifying a desired format for the associated personal broadcastchannel. The format may define a time at which the personal broadcastchannel is to be active. For example, the format may be 24 hours a day,7 days a week; from the hours of 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Monday throughFriday; or the like. Still further, the format may be defined such thatdifferent types of content are broadcast at different times of the day.For example, the format may be defined such that educational content forchildren is broadcast from 8 a.m. until noon, television programs fromthe comedy genre are broadcast from noon until 5 p.m., news content isbroadcast from 5 p.m. until 6 p.m., and episodes of Star Trek arebroadcast from 6 p.m. until 10 p.m. The exemplary formats given aboveare not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

The content database 36 operates to store content for the personalbroadcast channels distributed to the local server 28 from the contentdistribution agent 22 of the PVBS master server 12. Likewise, theadvertisements database 38 operates to store advertisements for thepersonal broadcast channels distributed to the local server 28 from thecontent distribution agent 22 of the PVBS master server 12.

Each of the display devices 30-1 through 30-N may be a television, aset-top box, a set-top box with digital video recorder functionality, apersonal computer, a portable device such as a Personal DigitalAssistant (PDA) or mobile telephone, or the like enabling users 40-1through 40-N to view the personal broadcast channels provided by thelocal broadcast agent 32.

FIG. 2 illustrates the operation of the PVBS 10 of FIG. 1 according toone embodiment of the present invention. In general, the users 40-1through 40-N interact with the local broadcast agent 32 via the displaydevices 30-1 through 30-N to define one or more personal broadcastchannels (step 200). For each personal broadcast channel, a personalchannel profile is defined. Alternatively, the users 40-1 through 40-Nmay interact directly with the local server 28 to define the personalchannel profiles for the personal broadcast channels. As discussedabove, the personal channel profiles include information identifyingtypes of content desired for the personal broadcast channels andoptionally formats for the personal broadcast channels.

The local broadcast agent 32 then generates a request for content to beprovided to the content distribution agent 22 (step 202). Morespecifically, the local broadcast agent 32 aggregates the personalchannel profiles to identify the types of content desired for theassociated personal broadcast channels and optionally the relativeamounts of content desired for each of the types of content. Forexample, if there is a 24 hour personal broadcast channel for sportscontent and a 1 hour a day or a 1 hour segment of a broadcast channelfor news, then the local broadcast agent 32 may determine that thepersonal broadcast channels desire a greater amount of sports contentthan news content. As such, the generated request may provideinformation indicating that more sports content is desired than newscontent. Note that the request generated by the local broadcast agent 32is a request for types of content in general. The request preferablydoes not include information regarding the specific users 40-1 through40-N. As such, privacy is maintained between the PVBS master server 12and the users 40-1 through 40-N.

The local broadcast agent 32 then sends the request to the contentdistribution agent 22 at the PVBS master server 12 (step 204). In asimilar fashion, the content distribution agent 22 may receive requestsfrom the local broadcast agents of the other CPs 16 and 18 in the PVBS10. The content distribution agent 22 then generates a distribution planfor distributing content to the local broadcast agent 32 as well as thelocal broadcast agents of the other CPs 16 and 18 (step 206). Thedistribution plan may be generated, for example, daily or weekly. Morespecifically, the content distribution agent 22 identifies content fromthe content database 24 and optionally advertisements from theadvertisements database 26 to distribute to the local broadcast agent 32of the CP 14. Likewise, the content distribution agent 22 may identifycontent and advertisements for the other CPs 16 and 18. In order toefficiently distribute content to the CP 14 as well as to the other CPs16 and 18, the content distribution agent 22 aggregates the request fromthe local broadcast agent 32 with requests from the local broadcastagents of the other CPs 16 and 18 and generates the distribution plansuch that content and optionally advertisements are multicast to the CPs14-18. For example, if a particular video is to be distributed to theCPs 14 and 16, the content distribution agent 22 may generate thedistribution plan such that the video is multicast to the localbroadcast agents of the CPs 14 and 16, thereby providing the video toboth of the CPs 14 and 16 using a single transfer of the video.

From this point on, the local broadcast agent 32 generally operates togenerate the personal broadcast channels based on content and optionallyadvertisements received from the content distribution agent 22 inresponse to the request and broadcast the personal broadcast channels toone or more of the display devices 30-1 through 30-N.

In this embodiment, content distribution agent 22 provides a contentlist to the local broadcast agent 32 identifying content and optionallyadvertisements that are to be distributed to the local broadcast agent32 (step 208). Note that the content list may be redistributed orupdated periodically such as daily or weekly in light of changes incontent availability. For each video, or more generally digital asset,to be distributed to the local broadcast agent 32, the content list mayinclude a title; estimated time at which the video will be distributed;a brief description of the video content; a length of the video content;information identifying a quality of the video; Digital RightsManagement (DRM) rights such as one time play, multiple plays, and/orwhether rewind and pausing are allowed; and advertisement insertioninformation such as types of advertisements that may be inserted intothe video content, a total advertisement time required for the videocontent, and an overall video value to advertisement value. The overallvideo value to advertisement value provides an indication as to therelative value of commercials in the content. In a similar fashion, thecontent list may include information regarding advertisements to bedistributed to the local broadcast agent 32 such as the advertisementtype, run time, and the desired program to advertisement value.

Based on the content list and the personal channel profiles, the localbroadcast agent 32 generates schedules for the personal broadcastchannels (step 210). More specifically, based on the personal channelprofiles, the local broadcast agent 32 analyzes the information providedin the content list to associate each video identified by the contentlist to one or more of the personal broadcast channels. Then, for eachpersonal broadcast channel, a schedule is generated that provides thebroadcast time and sequence of broadcast for the videos associated withthe personal broadcast channel.

In addition, the local broadcast agent 32 may insert advertisement slotsinto the schedules for the personal broadcast channels. As stated above,the content list may include advertisement information identifying thetypes of advertisements to be inserted into each video, the totaladvertisement time for each video, and the overall program value toadvertisement value for each video. In addition, the content list mayinclude information regarding advertisements that are to be delivered tothe local broadcast agent 32. Based on this information, the localbroadcast agent 32 may insert advertisement slots into the schedules forthe personal broadcast channels. The advertisement slots may be insertedduring videos in the schedule and/or between successive videos in theschedule. In addition, advertisements may be placed in an ElectronicProgram Guide (EPG) or the like used to access the personal broadcastchannels.

When selecting advertisements to be inserted into the schedules, thelocal broadcast agent 32 may consider the viewing habits of the user40-1. For example, the local broadcast agent 32 may identify a primeviewing time for the user 40-1 based on the viewing habits of the user40-1. As such, the content scheduled for this prime viewing time may begiven a higher program to advertisement value. As such, advertisementsthat are desired to be inserted during content having high program toadvertisement value may be inserted during the prime viewing time forthe user 40-1.

Alternatively, rather than the local broadcast agent 32 insertingadvertisement slots in the schedules, the content provided by thecontent distribution agent 22 may already include advertisements oradvertisement slots.

Thereafter, the content and optionally advertisements for the personalbroadcast channels are distributed to the local broadcast agent 32according to the distribution plan of the content distribution agent 22(step 212). In one embodiment, the content distribution agent 22 pushesthe content and advertisements to the local broadcast agent 32 as wellas the local broadcast agents of the CPs 16 and 18 using a multicastingscheme. More specifically, the distribution plan may identify each ofthe CPs 14-18 that are to receive a particular video. Thus, when thevideo is to be distributed, the content distribution agent 22 multicaststhe video to the local broadcast agents of the CPs 14-18 that are toreceive the video. In another embodiment, the content distribution agent22 implements a hybrid push/pull scheme wherein the content distributionagent 22 multicasts content and advertisements to each of a number ofthe CPs 14-18, all of which may or may not desire the content andadvertisements. As such, the local broadcast agents of the CPs 14-18 mayobtain desired content and advertisements from the multicast and ignorecontent and advertisements that are not desired. The content andadvertisements distributed to the local broadcast agent 32 are stored inthe content database 36 and the advertisements database 38 of the localserver 28.

Note that the content and advertisements may be assigned an aging outperiod by either the content distribution agent 22 or the localbroadcast agent 32. The aging out period defines a period of time afterwhich the associated content or advertisement is removed from storage atthe local server 28. The user 40-1 may be given the ability to overridethe aging out period.

The distribution scheme described herein provides substantial benefits.For example, the content distribution agent 22 may provide content tothe CPs 14-18 during off-peak hours, such as during the hours of 10 pmto 6 am, when the PVBS master server 12, the local server 28, and thenetwork 20 are likely not to be experiencing heavy loads. Further, bypre-pushing the content to the local server 28 before broadcasting,quality of service issues associated with streaming content over thenetwork 20 are avoided.

In this embodiment, at the request of the user 40-1, the display device30-1 sends a selection message to the local broadcast agent 32 selectinga personal broadcast channel to view at the display device 30-1 (step214). The local broadcast agent 32 then broadcasts the content andadvertisements for the selected personal broadcast channel to thedisplay device 30-1 according to the schedule generated for the selectedpersonal broadcast channel, thereby providing the personal broadcastchannel (step 216). The selected personal broadcast channel may beprovided over an unused cable television channel or over a Local AreaNetwork (LAN) connection. In an alternative embodiment, the personalbroadcast channels may be continuously broadcast to the display devices30-1 through 30-N over different channels where the display devices 30-1through 30-N are tuned to the channel for the selected personalbroadcast channel. It should be noted that not all content for thepersonal broadcast channel needs to be distributed to the local server28 before broadcasting can begin. As long as content that is to bedistributed at the current time is stored or at least partially storedat the local server 28, the broadcast can take place.

When providing personal broadcast channels to the display devices 30-1through 30-N over a LAN connection or digital cable television channel,DRM restrictions may be used to control access to the personal broadcastchannels. For example, DRM restrictions may be applied to a personalbroadcast channel defined by the user 40-1 such that the personalbroadcast channel is only accessible to the user 40-1 at the displaydevice 30-1. The manner in which DRM restrictions may be applied to thepersonal broadcast channels will be apparent to one of ordinary skill inthe art upon reading this disclosure.

While not illustrated, the local broadcast agent 32 may monitor theviewing habits of the user 40-1. Based on the viewing habits of the user40-1, the local broadcasting agent 32 may adjust the amounts of thedesired types of content requested from the content distribution agent22. Alternatively, the local broadcasting agent 32 may provideinformation describing the viewing habits of the user 40-1 to thecontent distribution agent 22, where the content distribution agent 22may consider the viewing habits of the user 40-1 when identifyingcontent and the amounts of content to distribute to the local broadcastagent 32.

FIG. 3 illustrates the operation of the PVBS 10 of FIG. 1 according to asecond embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, thecontent distribution agent 22 does not provide the content list to thelocal broadcast agent 32, and the local broadcast agent 32 generates thepersonal broadcast channels as content is delivered to the local server28. More specifically, the users 40-1 through 40-N interact with thelocal broadcast agent 32 via the display devices 30-1 through 30-N todefine one or more personal broadcast channels (step 300). For eachpersonal broadcast channel, a personal channel profile is defined.Alternatively, the users 40-1 through 40-N may interact directly withthe local server 28 to define the personal channel profiles for thepersonal broadcast channels. The local broadcast agent 32 then generatesa request for content to be provided to the content distribution agent22 (step 302).

The local broadcast agent 32 then sends the request to the contentdistribution agent 22 at the PVBS master server 12 (step 304). In asimilar fashion, the content distribution agent 22 may receive requestsfrom the local broadcast agents of the other CPs 16 and 18 in the PVBS10. The content distribution agent 22 then generates a distribution planfor distributing content to the local broadcast agent 32 as well as thelocal broadcast agents of the other CPs 16 and 18 (step 306). Thecontent distribution agent 22 then provides content and optionallyadvertisements to the local broadcast agent 32 according to thedistribution plan (step 308).

As content and advertisements are delivered to the local broadcast agent32 or at some point thereafter, the local broadcast agent 32 generatesschedules for the personal broadcast channels based on the correspondingpersonal channel profiles (step 310). As discussed above, the schedulesfor the personal broadcast channels may be generated by analyzing thevideos and optionally advertisements delivered to the local broadcastagent 32 or metadata associated therewith to associate each video andadvertisement with one or more of the personal broadcast channels basedon the personal channel profiles. The schedule for each of the personalvideo channels may then be generated to provide a broadcast sequence andbroadcast times for the associated videos and advertisements.

In this embodiment, at the request of the user 40-1, the display device30-1 sends a selection message selecting a personal broadcast channel toview at the display device 30-1 (step 312). The local broadcast agent 32then broadcasts the videos and advertisements for the selected personalbroadcast channel to the display device 30-1 according to the schedulegenerated for the selected personal broadcast channel, thereby providingthe personal broadcast channel, as described above (step 314).

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the local server 28 according to oneembodiment of the present invention. In general, the local server 28 iscommunicatively coupled to the network 20 via a FTTH interface 42. Notethat the FTTH interface 42 is exemplary. Other types of high speedinterfaces may be used to connect the local server 28 to the network 20.The FTTH interface 42 provides a high speed connection to the network 20for delivery of content and optionally advertisements for personalbroadcast channels according to the present invention. The local server28 may also be communicatively coupled to a Local Area Network (LAN) viaa LAN gateway 44. This may be particularly beneficial where the displaydevices 30-1 through 30-N are personal computers or like device having aLAN interface rather than a traditional analog or digital cabletelevision interface.

As illustrated, the local server 28 includes an Ethernet switch 46, thelocal broadcast agent 32, a content storage device 48, and a radiofrequency (RF) output 50. The Ethernet switch 46 operates in one ofthree modes. In a first mode, the Ethernet switch 46 connects the FTTHinterface 42 to the local broadcast agent 32 for communication betweenthe local broadcast agent 32 and the content distribution agent 22according to the present invention. In a second mode, the Ethernetswitch 46 connects the FTTH interface 42 to the LAN gateway 44 fordirect communication between LAN devices and the network 20. In a thirdmode, the Ethernet switch 46 connects the local broadcast agent 32 tothe LAN gateway 44 for communication between the local broadcast agent32 and ones of the display devices 30-1 through 30-N connected to thelocal server 28 via the LAN.

As illustrated in this embodiment, the local broadcast agent 32 includesa DRM encoder function 52, a DRM decoder function 54, a streaming serverfunction 56, and a file manager function 58. The functions 52-58 may beimplemented in software, hardware, or a combination thereof. The DRMencoder and decoder functions 52 and 54 may be used where contentprovided to the local broadcast agent 32 or the personal broadcastchannels provided by the local broadcast agent 32 have or are to haveDRM restrictions. The streaming server function 56 operates to stream orbroadcast the personal broadcast channels to the display devices 30-1through 30-N either over the LAN via the LAN gateway 44 or a traditionalcable television connection via the RF output 50. The file managerfunction 58 operates to receive content and advertisements from thecontent distribution agent 22 via the FTTH interface 42 and store thecontent and advertisements in the content storage device 48. Due to thehigh speed connection provided by the FTTH interface 42, the filemanager function 58 may buffer incoming files using high speed memoryand transfer the buffered files to the content storage device 48. Notethat the content storage device 48 may include one or more storage unitssuch as one or more hard disk drives. As such, in order to efficientlytransfer the buffered file to storage, the file manager function 58 maysimultaneously transfer segments of the buffered file to differentstorage units and thereafter manage the segments of the file as a singlefile.

The RF output 50 enables the local broadcast agent 32 to broadcast thepersonal broadcast channels to the display devices 30-1 through 30-Nusing a traditional cable television connection. More specifically, eachuser 40-1 through 40-N, or alternatively each display device 30-1through 30-N, may be assigned an unused cable television channel. Assuch, the streaming server function 56 may provide a different personalbroadcast channel for each of the users 40-1 through 40-N, where thepersonal broadcast channels are combined into a single data stream. Avideo playback function 60 of the RF output 50 processes the output ofthe streaming server function 56 to provide a separate analog output foreach of the personal broadcast channels. An RF modulator function 62operates to upconvert the analog outputs to desired RF frequencies,which preferably correspond to unused cable television channels. An RFcombiner function 64 then combines the upconverted analog outputs into acombined RF signal. An RF splitter/combiner function 66 then combinesthe combined RF signal with an input signal from an associatedland-based or satellite-based television service provider. The displaydevices 30-1 through 30-N may then tune to channels corresponding to thepersonal broadcast channels in order to view the personal broadcastchannels.

FIG. 5 illustrates a PVBS 10′ according to another embodiment of thepresent invention. This embodiment is substantially the same as thatdescribed above. However, in this embodiment, local broadcast agents areimplemented on each of a number of display devices 68-1 through 68-3rather than on a local or in-home server. Note that while theembodiments of FIGS. 1 and 5 are discussed separately, the PVBS 10′ mayinclude both the CPs 14-18 of FIG. 1 and the display devices 68-1through 68-1 of FIG. 5.

As illustrated, the system 10′ includes the PVBS master server 12 andthe display devices 68-1 through 68-3 interconnected by the network 20.The display devices 68-1 through 68-3 may be personal computers,portable devices such as PDAs or mobile telephones, set-top boxes,televisions, or the like and are associated with users 70-1 through70-3. Regarding the display device 68-1, the user 70-1 interacts withthe local broadcast agent 32′ to create one or more personal channelprofiles defining desired personal broadcast channels. The localbroadcast agent 32′ aggregates the personal channel profiles andidentifies the types of content desired for the personal broadcastchannels and optionally relative amounts of content desired for eachtype of content. The local broadcast agent 32′ then sends a request forthe desired types of content and optionally the relative amounts ofcontent for each type of content to the content distribution agent 22.In a similar fashion, local broadcast agents of the other displaydevices 68-2 and 68-3 send requests to the content distribution agent22.

At some time thereafter, the content distribution agent 22 identifiescontent from the content database 24 and optionally advertisements fromthe advertisements database 26 to provide to each of the display devices68-1 through 68-3. The content distribution agent 22 then aggregates therequests from the display devices 68-1 through 68-3 and generates acontent distribution plan for distributing the identified content to thedisplay devices 68-1 through 68-3.

Then, as discussed above, in one embodiment, the content distributionagent 22 provides a content list to the local broadcast agent 32′identifying the content that is to be distributed to the display device68-1. In response, the local broadcast agent 32′ generates a schedulefor each of the personal broadcast channels based on the correspondingpersonal channel profiles and the content list. Likewise, the contentdistribution agent 22 may provide content lists to the other displaydevices 68-2 and 68-3. In response, the local broadcast agents of thedisplay devices 68-2 and 68-3 generate schedules for personal broadcastchannels of the users 70-2 and 70-3. The content distribution agent 22then distributes the content to the display devices 68-1 through 68-3according to the distribution plan. Again, the distribution planpreferably uses multicasting to efficiently transfer the content to thedisplay devices 68-1 through 68-3. For example, if a particular video isto be distributed to the display devices 68-1 and 68-2, the distributionplan may be generated such that the content distribution agent 22multicasts the video to the display devices 68-1 and 68-2. Once thecontent is distributed to the display device 68-1, the local broadcastagent 32′ may provide the personal broadcast channels for viewing by theuser 70-1 based on the schedules for the personal broadcast channels.

In another embodiment, the content distribution agent 22 does notprovide a content list to the local broadcast agent 32′. Rather, thecontent distribution agent 22 distributes content to the display devices68-1 through 68-3 according to the distribution plan. As content isreceived by the display device 68-1 or at some point after the contentis received, the local broadcast agent 32′ generates the schedule forthe personal broadcast channels based on the corresponding personalchannel profiles. Thereafter, the local broadcast agent 32′ may providethe personal broadcast channels for viewing by the user 70-1 based onthe schedules for the personal broadcast channels.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the PVBS master server 12 according to oneembodiment of the present invention. In general, the PVBS master server12 includes a control system 72 having associated memory 74. In thisembodiment, the content distribution agent 22 is implemented in softwareand stored in the memory 74. The PVBS master server 12 also includes oneor more digital storage devices 76, which may operate to store thecontent database 24 and the advertisements database 26. The digitalstorage devices 76 may be, for example, hard disk drives, opticalstorage devices, memory, or the like. The PVBS master server 12 alsoincludes a communication interface 78 communicatively coupling the PVBSmaster server 12 to the network 20. The PVBS master server 12 may alsoinclude a user interface 80, which may include components such as adisplay, one or more user input devices, and the like.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the display device 68-1 of FIG. 5 accordingto one embodiment of the present invention. However, this discussion isequally applicable to the other display devices 68-2 and 68-3. Ingeneral, the display device 68-1 includes a control system 82 includingthe local broadcast agent 32′. As will be apparent to one of ordinaryskill in the art, the control system 82 may include hardware and/orsoftware components in addition to the local broadcast agent 32′depending on the particular implementation. The local broadcast agent32′ may be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination ofsoftware and hardware. The display device 68-1 also includes one or moredigital storage devices 84 operating to store the personal channelprofiles database 34′, the content database 36′, and the advertisementsdatabase 38′. The digital storage devices 84 may be, for example, harddisk drives, optical storage devices, memory, or the like. The displaydevice 68-1 also includes a communication interface 86 communicativelycoupling the display device 68-1 to the network 20. In addition, thecommunication interface 86 may communicatively couple the display device68-1 to a land-based or satellite-based television service provider. Thedisplay device 68-1 may also include a user interface 88, which mayinclude components such as one or more user input devices, a display,speakers, and the like.

As mentioned above, FIGS. 8-12 discuss an exemplary system for providingcontent to the PVBS master server 12 of FIG. 1. However, the contentreview and distribution system 90 discussed below is not limited todistributing content via the PVBS 10 and may distribute reviewed contentusing any type of public or commercial distribution entity or system.

FIG. 8 illustrates the content review and distribution system 90according to one embodiment of the present invention. As discussedbelow, in an exemplary embodiment, the system 90 may provide all or aportion of the content distributed by the PVBS master server 12described above. In general, the system 90 includes a central review anddistribution server 92, a number of user devices 94-1 through 94-N, anda distribution entity 96 communicatively coupled by a network 98. Thenetwork 98 may be any type of Wide Area Network (WAN), Local AreaNetwork (LAN), Personal Area Network (PAN), or the like. As an example,the network 98 may be a public distributed network such as the Internet.Authors/reviewers 100-1 through 100-N are associated with the userdevices 94-1 through 94-N. The authors/reviewers 100-1 through 100-N arepersons that both submit content to the central review and distributionserver 92 for review and potentially distribution and agree to reviewcontent submitted by other persons. Depending on the particular rolethat the authors/reviewers 100-1 through 100-N are performing at aparticular point in the following discussion, the authors/reviewers100-1 through 100-N may alternatively be referred to as either authors100-1 through 100-N or reviewers 100-1 through 100-N.

The central review and distribution server 92 includes a review anddistribution agent 102, which may be implemented in software. Asdiscussed below, the review and distribution agent 102 operates toeffect review and potentially distribution of content authored by theauthors 100-1 through 100-N. The central review and distribution server92 also includes or is associated with an author/reviewer profilesdatabase 104 and a content database 106. The author/reviewer profilesdatabase 104 operates to store profiles of the authors/reviewers 100-1through 100-N. The profiles include credentials of the authors/reviewers100-1 through 100-N, where the credentials of the authors/reviewers100-1 through 100-N are used to select reviewers for submitted content,as discussed below. The content database 106 operates to store contentsubmitted to the central review and distribution server 92 for reviewand potentially distribution to a distribution entity such as thedistribution entity 96. The content submitted for review may be any typeof digital content such as, for example, videos, images, audio files,literature, or the like. Individual content, such as individual videofiles, may be referred to herein as digital assets.

The user devices 94-1 through 94-N may be, for example, personalcomputers; portable devices such as PDAs, mobile telephones, or mobilemedia players; or a like device capable of accessing the network 98. Inoperation, the authors/reviewers 100-1 through 100-N are enabled tosubmit content to the central review and distribution server 92 andreview content submitted to the central review and distribution server92 by others of the authors/reviewers 100-1 through 100-N via the userdevices 94-1 through 94-N.

The distribution entity 96 may be a public or commercial contentdistribution entity. For example, the distribution entity 96 may be acommercial content provider such as the PVBS master server 12 discussedabove, a television service provider, or the like. Alternatively, thedistribution entity 96 may be a public content provider such as, forexample, http://www.youtube.com, http://www.video.google.com, or thelike.

Note that while FIG. 8 illustrates the review and distribution agent 102as being implemented on the central review and distribution server 92,the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the reviewand distribution agent 102 may alternatively be implemented as adistributed agent hosted by one or more of the user devices 94-1 through94-N where the user devices 94-1 through 94-N are configured as a P2Pnetwork.

FIG. 9 illustrates the operation of the system 90 of FIG. 8 according toone embodiment of the present invention. First, the authors 100-1through 100-N register with the review and distribution agent 102 viathe user devices 94-1 through 94-N (step 400). During registration, theauthors 100-1 through 100-N agree to review content submitted by othersof the authors 100-1 through 100-N in exchange for review andpotentially distribution of their own content. For example, the author100-1 may agree to review two digital assets submitted by others of theauthors 100-2 through 100-N for each digital asset submitted by theauthor 100-1 for review and potentially distribution. The agreements maybe enforced by refusing to distribute content submitted by the authors100-1 through 100-N until the authors have met the requirements of theagreement.

At some point in time, one of the authors 100-1 through 100-N submitscontent to the review and distribution agent 102 for review andpotentially distribution (step 402). For this discussion, the author100-1 is the author that submits the content. When submitting thecontent, the content and metadata for the content are provided to thereview and distribution agent 102. Alternatively, only the metadata forthe content may be provided to the review and distribution agent 102.The metadata may be defined by the author 100-1, automaticallypopulated, or both. The metadata preferably includes a target qualitylevel for the content selected by the author 100-1. In addition oralternatively, the metadata may include a content type such as video,image, or audio; file format; file size; resolution; title; briefdescription; keywords; genre or content category such as comedy,history, drama, mystery, action, science fiction, or the like; sub-genreor sub-category such as standup, sitcom, movie, or the like; requesteddistribution scheme such as free, copyrighted, ad-based,payment-on-demand, or the like; usage polices such as DRM restrictionsfor the content when distributed; recommended reviewers; non-recommendedreviewers; or the like.

Next, the review and distribution agent 102 effects review of thesubmitted content according to the present invention (step 404). Thedetails of the review process are discussed below in detail with respectto FIG. 10. In the preferred embodiment, the review and distributionagent 102 effects an iterative review process based on quality level.More specifically, the author 100-1 selects a target quality level forthe submitted content. The target quality level may be between andincluding a minimum quality level, which may be quality level 1, and amaximum quality level, which may be quality level 3. The submittedcontent is iteratively reviewed by groups of the reviewers 100-2 through100-N selected for each quality level up to the target quality level oruntil the submitted content fails to satisfy the requirements of aquality level. Based on the review, the content is assigned a ratedquality level. The rated quality level may be used to define, forexample, a value of the content to a commercial distribution entity. Thereview may also check for copyright infringement and the correctness oraccuracy of the metadata associated with the submitted content. Inaddition, the review may allow reviewers, which are select ones of theother authors/reviewers 100-2 through 100-N, to provide comments orother feedback to the author 100-1 regarding the submitted content.

After review of the submitted content, the review and distribution agent102 provides feedback including the rated quality level to the author100-1 via the user device 94-1 (step 406). Note that in an alternativeembodiment, feedback may be provided to the author 100-1 after eachiteration of the review process. Further note that the feedback mayinclude identifiers (IDs) identifying feedback from each of the group ofreviewers. Note that if the author 100-1 feels a review by one of thegroup of reviewers is inaccurate, the author 100-1 can request that thereviewer be excluded from reviewing content from the author 100-1 in thefuture. If a reviewer is excluded by a threshold number or percentage ofthe authors 100-1 through 100-N, the reviewer may be prevented frommaking future content submissions.

After receiving the feedback, the author 100-1 then decides either torevise the content based on the feedback and resubmit the content forreview or to distribute the content at the rated quality level (step408). Once the author 100-1 decides to distribute the content, thereview and distribution agent 102 effects transfer of the content to oneor more distribution entities, such as the distribution entity 96,according to the desired distribution scheme and usage polices for thecontent. In one embodiment, the content is submitted to the review anddistribution agent 102 in step 402. As such, the review and distributionagent 102 may transfer the content to the distribution entity 96 fromthe content database 106. In another embodiment, the review anddistribution agent 102 may effect a transfer of the content from theuser device 94-1 to the distribution entity 96.

FIG. 10 illustrates the review process according to one embodiment ofthe present invention. In this embodiment, the review process is aniterative review process based on quality level where submitted contentis rated at one of a number of quality levels. Each of the qualitylevels may have associated criteria to be used by reviewers to determineif submitted content satisfies the requirements of the quality level.First, once content is submitted for review by, for example, the author100-1, the review and distribution agent 102 selects a group ofreviewers from the reviewers 100-2 through 100-N for a first or minimumquality level based on credentials of the reviewers 100-2 through 100-N(step 500). For each of the reviewers 100-1 through 100-N, the reviewand distribution agent 102 generates the credentials of the reviewerbased on, for example, a total number of digital assets submitted by theauthor/reviewer for review, a number or percentage of the total numberof digital assets reviewed for each quality level, a total number ofdigital assets submitted by other authors and reviewed by the reviewerat each of the quality levels, and a percent deviation from the otherreviewers at each quality level for the digital assets reviewed by thereviewer. In addition, the review and distribution agent 102 maymaintain these statistics for a number of sub-categories within thequality levels such as content type, genre, sub-genre, requesteddistribution scheme, run time if applicable, and the like. This may bebeneficial if specialized reviewers within each quality level aredesired.

When selecting the group of reviewers based on the credentials of thereviewers 100-2 through 100-N, the review and distribution agent 102 mayfirst consider the credentials for the reviewers 100-2 through 100-Nwith respect to the current quality level, which for the first iterationof the review process may be, for example, a minimum quality level. Morespecifically, the review and distribution agent 102 may first identifyones of the reviewers 100-2 through 100-N having credentials indicatingthat they have accurately reviewed content at or above the currentquality level and/or have submitted content that has been reviewed at orabove the current quality level. If the number of identified reviewersis greater than a desired number of reviewers for the submitted content,the review and distribution agent 102 may select a portion of theidentified reviewers as the group of reviewers for the submitted contentusing, for example, a random selection process, based on relativecredentials, or based on credentials of the identified reviewers 100-2through 100-N with respect to other metadata for the submitted contentsuch as content type, genre, sub-genre, requested distribution scheme,run time, or the like.

Before finalizing the selected group of reviewers from the reviewers100-2 through 100-N, the review and distribution agent 102 may query theselected group of reviewers for their willingness to review thesubmitted content within a specified amount of time. The specifiedamount of time may be defined by the review and distribution agent 102or by the author 100-1 of the submitted content. If all of the selectedreviewers indicate willingness to review the submitted content withinthe specified amount of time, then the selected group of reviewers isfinalized. Otherwise, ones of the selected group of reviewers that arenot willing to review the submitted content within the specified amountof time may be removed from the selected group of reviewers andoptionally replaced.

Once the group of reviewers is selected, the review and distributionagent 102 provides the submitted content to the selected group ofreviewers, or more specifically to the ones of the user devices 94-2through 94-N associated with the selected group of reviewers (step 502).When providing the submitted content to the selected group of reviewers,DRM policies may be applied to the submitted content such that, forexample, only the selected group of reviewers may view or otherwiseconsume the submitted content. In addition, DRM policies may be appliedto limit playback to enable or disable multiple viewings of thesubmitted content, to enable or disable pausing, rewinding, orfast-forwarding of the submitted content, or the like. Alternatively,rather than uploading the submitted content to the content database 106and then providing the submitted content to the selected group ofreviewers, the review and distribution agent 102 may effect apeer-to-peer (P2P) connection between the user device 94-1 of the author100-1 and the ones of the user devices 94-2 through 94-N associated withthe selected group of reviewers where the submitted content istransferred or multicast to the ones of the user devices 94-2 through94-N associated with the selected group of reviewers.

At this point, the selected group of reviewers review the submittedcontent to either approve or disapprove of the submitted content beingrated at the current quality level or assign the content a rated qualitylevel, to check for copyright infringement, and to check for theaccuracy of other metadata associated with the submitted content such ascontent type, file format, file size, resolution, run time, genre,sub-genre, and the like. In addition, the group of reviewers may commenton the title of the content, the description of the content, thekeywords for the content, the requested distribution scheme for thecontent, the usage policies for the content, or the like. Still further,the group of reviewers may provide additional comments or feedbackregarding the content.

Once reviewed, the review and distribution agent 102 receives feedbackfrom the selected group of reviewers (step 504). Based on the feedback,the review and distribution agent 102 may decide whether to continue thereview by proceeding to a review at the next quality level (step 506).If, for example, a predefined number or percentage of the select groupof users has disapproved of the submitted content being rated at thecurrent quality level, which is also referred to herein as not beingreviewed to the current quality level, the review and distribution agent102 may decide not to proceed to the review at the next quality level.In addition, if there are one or more errors with respect to the othermetadata for the submitted content, the review and distribution agent102 may decide not to proceed to the review at the next quality level.The review and distribution agent 102 may also decide not to proceed tothe review at the next quality level if the current quality level is thetarget quality level for the content or the maximum quality level.

If the review and distribution agent 102 decides to proceed to thereview at the next quality level, the review process returns to step 500where reviewers are selected for the next quality level, and the processis repeated. If the review and distribution agent 102 decides not toproceed to the next quality level or if the submitted content has beenreviewed to the target or maximum quality level, then the review anddistribution agent 102 provides feedback to the author 100-1 via theuser device 94-1 (step 508). The feedback includes the rated qualitylevel, corrections to or information identifying errors in othermetadata of the submitted content, and any additional comments orfeedback provided by the group of reviewers during the review process.Note that the review and distribution agent 102 may require the author100-1 to correct some or all of the errors in the metadata beforedistribution of the content.

Once the review process is complete, the author 100-1 may eitherdistribute the content at the rated quality level or revise the contentbased on the feedback and re-submit the content for review.

In an alternative embodiment, the review and distribution agent 102 mayreturn feedback to the author 100-1 after each iteration of the reviewprocess. In response, the author 100-1 may either revise the contentbased on the feedback and re-submit the revised content for the nextiteration of the review process or instruct the review and distributionagent 102 to distribute the content at current rated quality level.

While the discussion above focuses on an iterative review process, thepresent invention is not limited thereto. For example, rather thaniteratively reviewing submitted content at each successive qualitylevel, the review and distribution agent 102 may effect review of thesubmitted content only at the target quality level. Further, while thediscussion above focuses on the quality level as being the primaryconsideration for selecting reviewers, the present invention is notlimited thereto. Reviewers may be selected based on credentialsassociated with any of the metadata for the submitted content or anycombination thereof. For example, if a video of the comedy genre, thesitcom sub-genre, and a target quality level of 3 is submitted forreview, the review and distribution agent 102 may select reviewers forthe submitted content based on credentials of the reviewers 100-1through 100-N with respect to videos, with respect to the comedy genre,with respect to the sitcom sub-genre, with respect to quality level 3,or any combination thereof.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of the central review and distribution server92 of FIG. 8 according to one embodiment of the present invention. Ingeneral, the central review and distribution server 92 includes acontrol system 108 having associated memory 110. In this example, thereview and distribution agent 102 is implemented in software and storedin the memory 110. The central review and distribution server 92 mayalso include one or more digital storage devices 112, which may be usedto store the author/reviewer profiles database 104 and the contentdatabase 106. The central review and distribution server 92 alsoincludes a communication interface 114 communicatively coupling thecentral review and distribution server 92 to the network 98. The centralreview and distribution server 92 may also include a user interface 116,which may include components such as a display, one or more user inputdevices, and the like.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of the user device 94-1 of FIG. 8 accordingto one embodiment of the present invention. However, this discussion isequally applicable to the other user devices 94-2 through 94-N. Ingeneral, the user device 94-1 includes a control system 118 havingassociated memory 120. The user device 94-1 may also include one or moredigital storage devices 122. The user device 94-1 also includes acommunication interface 124 communicatively coupling the user device94-1 to the network 98. The user device 94-1 may also include a userinterface 126, which may include components such as a display, speakers,one or more user input devices, and the like.

Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and modificationsto the preferred embodiments of the present invention. All suchimprovements and modifications are considered within the scope of theconcepts disclosed herein and the claims that follow.

1. A computer-implemented method of reviewing and distributing digitalcontent comprising: identifying a plurality of authors of digitalcontent via a registration process wherein the plurality of authorsagree to review digital content in exchange for review of their owndigital content; receiving a submission from one of the plurality ofauthors including metadata for digital content to be reviewed; andeffecting review of the digital content by at least one group ofreviewers selected from others of the plurality of authors based on themetadata for the digital content and reviewer credentials for the othersof the plurality of authors, wherein effecting review of the digitalcontent includes selecting a group of reviewers from the others of theplurality of authors based on a default target quality level for thesubmission and the reviewer credentials of the others of the pluralityof authors and feedback is provided to the one of the plurality ofauthors based on the review.
 2. The computer-implemented method of claim1 wherein the metadata for the digital content comprises the defaulttarget quality level for the digital content, and effecting review ofthe digital content comprises: a) selecting a group of reviewers fromthe others of the plurality of authors for a review at a first qualitylevel that is less than the default target quality level based on thereviewer credentials; b) effecting transfer of the digital content touser devices associated with the group of reviewers; c) receivingfeedback from the group of reviewers; d) determining whether the digitalcontent is to be reviewed at a next quality level based on the feedbackand the default target quality level; and e) if the digital content isto be reviewed at the next quality level, repeating steps a)-e) for thenext quality level.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2wherein determining whether the digital content is to be reviewed at thenext quality level comprises determining whether the digital content israted at or above a current quality level based on the feedback from thegroup of reviewers and whether the current quality level is less thanthe default target quality level.
 4. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 2 wherein determining whether the digital content is to bereviewed at the next quality level comprises: providing feedback to theone of the plurality of authors based on the feedback from the group ofreviewers; and receiving information indicating whether the digitalcontent is to be reviewed at the next quality level from the one of theplurality of authors, wherein the one of the plurality of authorsdecides whether the digital content is to be reviewed at the nextquality level based on the feedback.
 5. The computer-implemented methodof claim 2 further comprising providing the feedback to the one of theplurality of authors based on the feedback from each of the groups ofreviewers if the digital content is not to be reviewed at the nextquality level.
 6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 whereineffecting review of the digital content comprises: effecting transfer ofthe digital content to user devices associated with the group ofreviewers, wherein feedback from the group of reviewers is provided tothe one of the plurality of authors.
 7. The computer-implemented methodof claim 6 wherein the metadata for the digital content includesinformation describing the digital content, and selecting the group ofreviewers comprises selecting the group of reviewers from the others ofthe plurality of authors based on the information describing the digitalcontent and the reviewer credentials of the others of the plurality ofauthors.
 8. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 wherein themetadata for the digital content includes a target quality level for thedigital content and information describing the digital content, andselecting the group of reviewers comprises selecting the group ofreviewers from the others of the plurality of authors based on thetarget quality level, the information describing the digital content,and the reviewer credentials of the others of the plurality of authors.9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprisinggenerating the reviewer credentials for the plurality of authors basedon digital content previously submitted by each of the plurality ofauthors for review and digital content previously reviewed by each ofthe plurality of authors.
 10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1further comprising: receiving feedback regarding the digital contentfrom the at least one group of reviewers; and providing feedback to theone of the plurality of authors based on the feedback from the at leastone group of reviewers.
 11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1wherein the feedback provided to the one of the plurality of authorscomprises information identifying a rated quality level of the digitalcontent.
 12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein thefeedback provided to the one of the plurality of authors comprises atleast one of a group consisting of: information identifying errors inthe metadata for the digital content, information correcting errors inthe metadata for the digital content, and comments regarding the digitalcontent.
 13. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 furthercomprising: receiving information identifying whether the one of theplurality of authors desires to distribute the digital content based onthe feedback; and effecting transfer of the digital content to at leastone distribution entity if the one of the plurality of authors desiresto distribute the digital content.
 14. A central server for a digitalcontent review and distribution system comprising: a communicationinterface communicatively coupling the central server to user devicesassociated with a plurality of authors of digital content via a network;and a control system associated with the communication interface andconfigured to: identify the plurality of authors of digital content viaa registration process wherein the plurality of authors agree to reviewdigital content in exchange for review of their own digital content;receive a submission from one of the plurality of authors includingmetadata for digital content to be reviewed; and effect review of thedigital content by at least one group of reviewers selected from othersof the plurality of authors based on the metadata for the digitalcontent and reviewer credentials for the others of the plurality ofauthors, wherein effecting review of the digital content includesselecting a group of reviewers from the others of the plurality ofauthors based on a default target quality level for the submission andthe reviewer credentials of the others of the plurality of authors andfeedback is provided to the one of the plurality of authors based on thereview.
 15. The central server of claim 14 wherein the metadata for thedigital content comprises the default target quality level for thedigital content, and in order to effect review of the digital content,the control system is further configured to: a) select a group ofreviewers from the others of the plurality of authors for a review at afirst quality level that is less than the default target quality levelbased on the reviewer credentials; b) effect transfer of the digitalcontent to user devices associated with the group of reviewers; c)receive feedback from the group of reviewers; d) determine whether thedigital content is to be reviewed at a next quality level based on thefeedback and the default target quality level; and e) if the digitalcontent is to be reviewed at the next quality level, repeat a)-e) forthe next quality level.
 16. The central server of claim 15 wherein inorder to determine whether the digital content is to be reviewed at thenext quality level, the control system is further configured todetermine whether the digital content is rated at or above a currentquality level based on the feedback from the group of reviewers andwhether the current quality level is less than the default targetquality level.
 17. The central server of claim 15 wherein in order todetermine whether the digital content is to be reviewed at the nextquality level, the control system is further configured to: providefeedback to the one of the plurality of authors based on the feedbackfrom the group of reviewers; and receive information indicating whetherthe digital content is to be reviewed at the next quality level from theone of the plurality of authors, wherein the one of the plurality ofauthors decides whether the digital content is to be reviewed at thenext quality level based on the feedback.
 18. The central server ofclaim 15 wherein the control system is further configured to provide thefeedback to the one of the plurality of authors based on the feedbackfrom each of the groups of reviewers if the digital content is not to bereviewed at the next quality level.
 19. The central server of claim 14wherein in order to effect review of the digital content, the controlsystem is further configured to: effect transfer of the digital contentto user devices associated with the group of reviewers, wherein feedbackfrom the group of reviewers is provided to the one of the plurality ofauthors.
 20. The central server of claim 19 wherein the metadata for thedigital content includes information describing the digital content, andthe control system is further configured to select the group ofreviewers from the others of the plurality of authors based on theinformation describing the digital content and the reviewer credentialsof the others of the plurality of authors.
 21. The central server ofclaim 19 wherein the control system is further configured to select thegroup of reviewers from the others of the plurality of authors based onthe target quality level, information describing the digital content,and the reviewer credentials of the others of the plurality of authors.22. The central server of claim 19 wherein the control system is furtherconfigured to generate the reviewer credentials for the plurality ofauthors based on digital content previously submitted by each of theplurality of authors for review and digital content previously reviewedby each of the plurality of authors.
 23. The central server of claim 14wherein the control system is further configured to: receive feedbackregarding the digital content from the at least one group of reviewers;and provide the feedback to the one of the plurality of authors based onthe feedback from the at least one group of reviewers.
 24. The centralserver of claim 14 wherein the feedback provided to the one of theplurality of authors comprises information identifying a rated qualitylevel of the digital content.
 25. The central server of claim 14 whereinthe feedback provided to the one of the plurality of authors comprisesat least one of a group consisting of: information identifying errors inthe metadata for the digital content, information correcting errors inthe metadata for the digital content, and comments regarding the digitalcontent.
 26. The central server of claim 14 wherein the control systemis further configured to: receive information identifying whether theone of the plurality of authors desires to distribute the digitalcontent based on the feedback; and effect transfer of the digitalcontent to at least one distribution entity if the one of the pluralityof authors desires to distribute the digital content.